Title

Author

Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2009

Abstract

Knowledge management (KM) has become a business phenomenon with numerous success stories of organizations that have implemented KM activities within their organizations. This trend has resulted in significant research being conducted on best practices and lessons learned. The success of KM projects is largely dependent on the support for the project by the organization’s employees. In Asia, a large number of organizations are still grappling with the challenge of obtaining organization-wide support or legitimacy for their KM projects. Why is it so difficult to obtain legitimacy for KM? In this article, we aim to answer this question by focusing on the influence of the environment on organizational KM efforts and change with the help of institutional theory. We conducted an in-depth case study analysis of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which recently implemented their KM project. By analyzing the environment and the responses of the subgroups within the ADB, we found that the environmental pressures pushing the organization toward KM were met with resistance from certain groups within the organization. A deeper analysis revealed that the organization’s internal environment, particularly its strategy, culture, structure, resource capability, and leadership played crucial roles in explaining this.